Playing with These Toys is Prohibited

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Author: Kelly Neukom

Legos. Playmobil. Ninja Turtles. Barbie. Although most of these toys are now gathering dust in our parents’ garages, Gallery Nineteen Eighty Eight is asking us to rediscover our enthusiasm for them with its newest exhibit, Toys!, which-according to the gallery’s website-“celebrates the childhood items we cherished . . . before video games did all the work for us.”

The gallery is easy to spot when driving down Melrose Ave., as there is a life-size bright blue Hot Wheels car parked out front. (Sadly, it cannot be taken for a test drive.) The place is smaller than expected-nothing more than a large white room about the size of the Cooler, jam-packed with paintings and sculptures. This was only a problem during the show’s opening night, when you couldn’t swing a political pin-covered messenger bag without hitting an aging hipster. What meets patrons’ eyes once they manage to squeeze through the crowd, however, is sheer nostalgia that isn’t ashamed to make us long for playtime again.

Some of the paintings (i.e. abstract nonsense) make you wonder how the artists came up with their ideas when asked to paint something about toys. However, most were chock full of ’80s playthings that caused one’s mind to wander down memory lane. One painting, “Ursus Care-us of Carelot National Forest,” imagines Care Bears as if they were an actual species. Another has a real-life scene of construction men working with Tonka Trucks and Lincoln Logs. A third painting looks like a normal ship bounding over waves-until it becomes clear that it is a Playmobil pirate ship. (The piece, my personal favorite, has quite the audacious title: “The Confederate Armed HMS Playmobil engaged in enemy attack, flying the confederate ensign.”)

Many of the works are somewhat sinister in their presentations, perhaps communicating a childhood that has gone sour or is now resented. “Revelation 6:8” shows the Grim Reaper sitting with his scythe on the back of a grinning My Little Pony. Another’s subject is a child-sized skeleton holding a smoking Super Soaker with water balloons strapped across his chest like grenades. The title, “Super Soaker Soldier,” sent a chill down my back when I realized that the kids who had once played with water guns in the ’90s are now shooting real ones in the Iraq War.

The gallery is also littered with 9″x5″ Volkswagen vans Mattel (a sponsor of the event) had given the artists to customize. It was strange to see which vans have sold already. One of my favorites, covered in swirling green and black images, hadn’t been claimed yet, while a van that looked like a giant metallic beetle already has a telltale red sticker on its label. But what would a buyer do with these vans after shelling out hundreds of dollars for them? Place them on a pedestal with a spotlight? Leave them on some random table? Use them as a paperweight?

Although I enjoyed the exhibit very much, I also wish it was taking place five years in the future. Many of the paintings’ toys are ones that had come out in the early-mid ’80s, when most of us currently at Oxy hadn’t even been born yet. If it were 2013, the artists would be closer to our age and would paint more familiar toys.

Although parking for the gallery is steep ($6), the saving grace is that it’s a block away from the famous LA institution Pink’s Hot Dogs, which has free parking. So the next time you’re craving a 10″ Chili Cheese Dog, why not drop into Gallery Nineteen Eighty Eight for some culture? Your brain will thank you-especially the part of it that still becomes enraged when someone argues that Michelangelo was the best Ninja Turtle.

(It was Donatello! Duh!)

Toys! will be exhibited until April 25. Gallery Nineteen Eighty Eight is located at 7020 Melrose Ave. For more information, go to nineteeneightyeight.com.

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